Distracted Dog Class

“I have come to trust Your Dog’s Friend as an authority on all things dog, and the all-positive training has been terrific. If I could give the place 6 stars, I would!” – P.B., Washington, DC

About this Class:

This class provides help for the impulsive, impatient dog who is so easily aroused by his environment that he forgets you’re there. Everything and anything draws his attention. In class, you will learn to help your dog control his normal doggy impulses and pay more attention to you, even around distractions. Prerequisite: A positive training class or private instruction with a positive trainer

NOTE FROM THE INSTRUCTOR –Alfhild (Al) Winder:

Before signing up for this class, please call me. My number is 301-229-2302. Communicating by email will not work because I need to ask you several questions to determine whether the class is right for your dog.

It will be helpful if:

—Your dog is not reactive to people or other dogs. By “reactive” I mean that he is
uncomfortable, fearful, stressed or growly in the presence of people or dogs and shows it by barking and lunging at them when on lead. For these issues, private lessons or our reactive dog class would be better choices. Showing curiosity about people and dogs and some barking and leash pulling are okay. Dogs bark, we all know that, and if they were perfect you would not need a class.

—Your dog has attended at least one positive basic obedience class. It would be great if he can do a sit and a down on verbal cue or hand signal. A 10-second sit and down stay is helpful but not necessary.

—You are familiar with the basics of clicker training, either with a clicker or a marker word, such as YES!

—You are willing to make changes in your own behavior in order to change your dog.

Curriculum:

Sessions 1 & 2: Teaching your dog that he can control the good things in life by making appropriate choices; building value for you (in your dog’s eyes) with fun recall and attention games. We start with low levels of distractions and slowly build to more challenging ones.

Sessions 3 & 4: Recall past food, toys and people; impulse control with more tempting food distractions; learning how to control your dog’s reinforcers (the ones he now steals for himself) in your home environment.

Sessions 5 & 6: Off-leash group recalls; off-leash group recalls with a stuffed dog and while other dogs are doing walk-bys.

Session 7: Off-leash recalls with one or more dogs.

Session 8: Review

I may change the exercises depending on the make-up of the class.

Homework:

Three exercises each week. Please plan on 20 min. of training per day, broken into 5-min. sessions. Short sessions are essential to keeping your dog interested in working with you and giving him time between sessions to process what he is learning.

You will receive a letter from me before class starts with instructions on preparing to attend class.

Instructor:Alfhild (Al) Winder (Come When Called Dog Training)

Fee:$190

Upcoming Classes

If a class is listed in the box below,please checkSchedule at a Glancefor days off and the last date of class.

If the box is empty, there are no classes currently scheduled. Please join the wait listat the bottom of this page, so we can email you when we schedule the next class.

Registration

Class fees help support the free programs and services provided by Your Dog’s Friend, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and supporting dog parents.

Join the Wait List

Not ready to sign up? Waiting for a better day to fit your schedule? Join the Distracted Dog Class wait list and we’ll email you as soon as we schedule new sessions of this class.

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